This 24-Hour Coffee Shop Has Video Games, Books, Costumes & More
Nerds, dorks and dweebs, unite! A young man named Kristopher Irons had a dream to create a 24-hour coffee shop that panders to geeks and gamers alike, so what did he do? The next logical thing of course: he started a Kickstarter campaign to create his dream coffee shop, Requiem.
Final Fantasy fans might recognize the font and style of the coffee shop’s name.
Irons realized that outside of the world’s largest geek conventions (such as Comiket with 590,000 people, gamescon with 335,000, Japan Expo with 240,000 and San Diego and New York Comic Cons, with 130,000 and 150,000 people, respectively), there is no place that’s not online for friends and fans of anime, comics, games, movies, tv shows, books and other mediums of geekdom to gather, discuss and socialize.
“Sports fans have sports bars where they can go for countless hours…why don’t fans of anime, books, cartoons, comics, movies, tv shows, or video games?”
He even made a pretty good observation about how large groups of people are (and should be) catered to: “Sports fans have sports bars where they can go for countless hours to feel at home, surrounded by people who understand their passions — why don’t fans of anime, books, cartoons, comics, movies, tv shows, or video games?”
Anyone who has ever played a game like Zelda will recognize these colorful “potions”
Being a gamer, I can proudly say I’ve spent countless hours playing video games, often going into the ridiculous hours of the morning. Irons can relate, which is why his startup coffee joint will be open 24 hours a day! Being a nerd myself, I’m very familiar with the whole “bullies and nerds” culture. Irons seems to also know it, since he puts a big emphasis on the fact that no harassment at all will be tolerated in his coffee shop. It’s meant to be a safe haven where people can feel comfortable being themselves.
Irons will also be implementing a “stop and go” system of sorts. If someone is happy to socialize and willing to let people approach his or her table, he’ll turn his table cone over to reveal the green cone. If he or she simply wants to snuggle up with a book, a cup of coffee and their thoughts, they can flip the cone over to the red side.
The coffee shop will have four general areas based on common themes throughout a variety of popular games. One area will be a Sci-fi area similar to those seen in games like Halo and Destiny, another corner will be a woodland shire-type area, much like Zelda and Skyrim, one corner will take inspiration from castles, cathedrals and other large structures commonly found in RPGs, and the last corner will feature the retro-modern stylings often associated with steampunk trends and the 50s/60s.
Requiem will be located in Anaheim, California, close to the Disneyland area, so that guests anywhere from LA to San Diego will be able to take a short trip to reach their mini Comic Con destination. The shop will also have cosplay items for use, board and card games, high speed internet for gaming, art supplies for artists, a community board to find others with the same interest, and a huge supply of books and comics at your disposal. If you want to donate to this genius idea, check out the Kickstarter campaign here!
Well, it looks like I’ve found my new home…so who’s coming with me? In the words of Super Mario, “Let’s a-go!”
Photos: Kickstarter
